Try?
Re-buy?
Welcome back, my friends, for yet another wonderful German beer we’re hoisting to celebrate 500 years of pure German beer. As we hope you know by now, 2016 is the 500th anniversary of the Bavarian Reinheitsgebot beer purity law of 1516. Today, the German beer of choice is Hopf Helle Weisse from Weissbierbraueri Hopf of Miesbach. Miesbach lies in Southern Bavaria not far from the Austrian border.
I picked up a half liter bottle of Hopf Weisse at Total Wine in Greeneville, South Carolina on a recent trip. I had never seen the beer before, and whenever and wherever I go to buy beer, I’m always looking for new German beers to try. I’m also fond of picking up old friends, too, or German beers that have been longtime staples for me.
Hopf Helle Weisse is a classic German hefeweizen. The brewery says of the beer on their website:
Der Klassiker: Weißbierkenner schätzen ihre unverwechselbare
Charakteristik, hellgold glänzend, erfrischend und spritzig mit einer feinen Hefetrübung. Unser typisches Weißbieraroma mit einer dezent fruchtigen Note – ein besonderer Genuss.
Echtes Hefeweißbier unfiltriert, aus 2/3 Weizenmalz und 1/3 Gerstenmalz,
typisch obergärig.
Allow me to translate:
The
Classic: beer connoisseurs appreciate its distinctive characteristics,
light gold hue, fresh and spicy with a fine haze of yeast. Our typical
wheat beer aroma with a subtle fruity note - a special treat.
Genuine unfiltered hefeweizen from 2/3 wheat and 1/3 barley malts, typically fermented.
Hopf Helle Weisse has an alcohol content of 5.3% by volume and I paid $5.99 for a half liter bottle, the price being the only drawback here. The label says my bottle was packaged on Christmas Day of 2015.
My bottle of Hopf Helle Weisse poured a cloudy yellow white color (I roused the yeast and decanted into the bottle as you should too) with a towering head of rocky foam and a distinctively spicy nose of banana and clove. Taking a sip, the beer has a fresh tart wheaty bite up front followed by subtle hints of vanilla, then more dominant banana fruit and clove spice. The finish is very tart and refreshing, and the beer is balanced by that tartness and spice to make this very delicious and refreshing indeed.
On its own merits, this is truly a delightful 5 star hefeweizen. The only problem for me however is the price (a star off for that). At $6 a bottle, there are just too many equally delicious examples of the style for much less (think Tucher or even Schneider). That shouldn’t stop you from picking up a bottle to try it, though. It was worth every penny to me to try this wonderful beer from Brauerei Hopf.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
